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Two studies from Rush University Medical Center in Chicago document the rapid decline in cognitive function at the end of life and show how being mentally active, through playing games and solving puzzles, can help maintain abilities. The research, published in the journal Neurology, showed that between two to three years before death, memory and thinking abilities declined much faster. While Alzheimer's disease might affect declines early on, other processes appear to affect cognition closer to death.

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National Honor Society students at Michigan's Harbor Springs High School helped test the Hospi-teen program, which sends students to a hospice to help residents with arts and crafts, baking, games, or holiday activities. The teens received special end-of-life care and hospice training. Neal Zoerhof, 17, called his experience "really fulfilling" and said it meets the needs of residents.

Data on older type 2 diabetes patients who received intensive disease management showed the unadjusted odds ratio of having hypoglycemic episodes was 2.4 in those with dementia and 1.7 in those with cognitive impairment. Researchers said the findings, presented at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine, indicate strict diabetes control may not be useful in patients with comorbid dementia.

Being bilingual could help people maintain better "executive processing," suggesting that their brains could cope more effectively with damage caused by dementia, according to a report in the journal Trends in Cognitive Sciences. The research from York University in Toronto suggested if the brain can better cope with dementia it may delay symptoms.

Low-dose adjunctive benzodiazepines work with opioids to treat dyspnea in palliative care patients who have not responded to opioids alone, according to a study of patients in the palliative care program at the University of California, San Francisco. Data showed combining an opioid and a benzodiazepine led to a 2.1-fold jump in the likelihood of improvement in dyspnea.

Louisiana state Sen. Dale Erdey is sponsoring a bill that would create an income tax checkoff box for people who want to donate to the Alliance for the Advancement of End of Life Care. The bill calls for using the money for public education about hospice services.